You're Not Supposed to be Here
by Freak-With-Issues
Summary: When Sasuke, Sakura's boyfriend, is acting weird one day, everyone ignores it. Well, that is until his behaviour becomes impossible to ignore with the bloodtrail it leaves behind. Once in therapy, Sakura meets others who understand loss. Abuse and rape. HIATUS for lack of ideas as well as hatred for developement of story.
1. His Intentions

**A/N: **Feel free to kill me for posting something new instead of updating. (Ever stop and seriously think about how many people would actually care to show up are your funeral? That brings me to tears every time) Anyways, I had this damn plot bunny hopping around my head after I saw a presentation on the Columbine shooting. (My heart goes out to all those who lost someone in that tragic event)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

For once Sakura was glad to hear the annoying beep of her alarm clock. She couldn't fully recall what she had been dreaming of, but she remembered bits and pieces of it. She remembered a gun and lots of screaming along with all of her friends sobbing. She shook off the fear that lingered from her dream and started her day with her regular morning routine. She crawled out of bed and walked over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of skinny jeans and her favorite black t-shirt that had TWLOHA written on it in neon blue, green, and pink. She then picked up underwear and socks before going into the bathroom attached to her room and locking the door behind her.

She stripped off her clothes, turning on the water. She let it warm up for a minute before stepping under the spray of water as she fought off thoughts of her dream. Usually her dreams were bizarre, but never scary. Sure, she'd dreamed of her father chugging martinis and giant teddy bears chasing her through a paintball course trying to kill her, (I've actually dreamt about both those things in one dream) but never had she woken up in the same panic she had today. After washing her hair and face she got out and dressed, running a brush through her pink locks which reached her mid-back.

She then gathered her book bag, yelled a goodbye to the empty house, and ran off to school. Halfway to school she met up with her female best friends, Hinata, Ino, and TenTen. She waved to them and they slowed down so she could catch up. She glanced around for a moment before asking, "Where's Sasuke?"

Ino was the first to answer and told Sakura, "I don't know, when we stopped by his house this morning his mom said he had already left. Why? Grumpy that you get ten less minutes with your oh-so-perfect boyfriend?" Ino teased and Sakura blushed, mumbling something along the lines of blondes really being dumb. After several minutes of talking pointlessly about homework and obnoxious teachers they arrived at the school's gates.

"Can we head up to the library? I need to copy someone's English homework." The girls agreed and they headed up to the library, cutting through hallways to get there. Once there they all settled into one of the few empty tables and began working away. TenTen ended up giving Sakura her English homework, a response on Lord of the Flies, which she finished copying just as the bell rang.

Sakura handed TenTen back her paper, thank her for the help, and separated from her friends. She headed to her first class, math, and was looking forward to seeing Sasuke in it. They only shared first, fourth, and sixth period, so she enjoyed the times she saw him. Once she arrived she sat down in her seat and, after noticing Sasuke wasn't in his seat beside her, began to watch the door. The minutes dragged by and the bell rang with no sign of Sasuke. How, if his mother had said he had left early, was he late? She brainstormed reasons for his lateness all class, coming up with things as stupid as he caught a cold on the way to school and went home.

After first period she passed and went to second period, English with TenTen and Hinata, they discussed how weird the situation was. Though it felt nice to know others shared her concern, she didn't feel any better about Sasuke being missing.

When third period rolled around with Ino for P.E., Sakura's worry was growing into a strong sense of anxiety. Where the hell was Sasuke? After getting changed and talking to Ino about the situation they went out into the gym for a game of dodge ball. Several times Ino had to cal out to Sakura, pulling her out of her daze in time to dodge one of the rubber balls being whipped in their directions. Some people took dodge ball _way_ too seriously.

After showering and changing back into her clothes Sakura walked out with Ino, planning on meeting the girls in the lunch room as always, when her phone let out the Jaws theme. She pulled it out and after reading the caller ID turned to glare at Ino. "Why were you in my phone messing with my personal ringtones? And why is Sasuke's Jaws?" Not giving her friend time to reply Sakura opened the text from Sasuke.

'Go with the girls to Pizza Hut for lunch off campus. Take anyone you like with you.' The text read. She stared at it with a confused expression for several moments before she replied, 'Where r you? And why should we skip?' She continued on her way to the lunch room, the whole five minute walk getting no reply from Sasuke. _If he can't give me any reasons I'm not skipping. Is he trying to get me killed by my parents? _She thought to herself. When her and Ino spotted TenTen and Hinata over at their usual table with everyone else a smile spread across Sakura's face.

Naruto had and arm loosely wrapped around Hinata's shoulders, oblivious of the bright red color her cheeks were and the way she was dangerously swaying in her seat. Neji was seated beside TenTen, an interested look on his face as TenTen described one of her more recently learned fighting moves to him. Chouji was seated beside Naruto, chomping down on his monstrous lunch while chatting with Shino who was beside him. Across from Chouji say Shikamaru, the lazy genius dozing through the lunchtime. Next to him was Lee who was explaining to no one in particular about his love of youth. Lastly, Kiba was on Shikamaru's right, trying to stealthily sneak Akamaru food; though it was obvious to everyone the dog was there.

Ino rushed forward and sat beside Kiba, starting a conversation about how Akamaru would look much better if he went to a groomers. Sakura hung back for a moment, a sudden feeling of warmth overwhelming her as she looked at all of her friends.

That was when she heard, and also felt, a giant **BOOM **from behind her. She was thrown to the floor, her body landing in an almost plank position with her knees brushing the ground.

She coughed, her arms and legs aching from being thrown to the ground. She raised her head to look behind her and watched the smoke clear. When things were somewhat settled, she saw a sight that made all the color drain from her face. Several students who had been behind her, sitting or standing closer to the cafeteria entrance, were now laying bloody on the floor. Some were screaming while others were disturbingly still. Chunks of the doorframe were embedded in some, where the, what seemed to be, explosion had originated from. As she continued to stare blankly at the Smokey area she saw a figure moving through the haze. When the person emerged from the cloud, she immediately noticed the spiky dark hair and onyx eyes. _S-Sasuke? _

He stormed through the bodies on the floor, ignoring their pleas for help as he moved as though he had a plan. That was when she noticed he had an automatic in one hand and a bag on his back that was slightly open revealing ammunition. _Oh...my...oh my god..._ He looked around the lunch room, as if searching for something, before a smirk spread across his face and he stormed towards whatever he saw. It was then that students reacted, those who were close to exits sprinting out and those who weren't running for cover behind the lunch counter or underneath tables.

It was then that Sakura saw that Sasuke was moving towards his brother, Itachi. Itachi, unlike the other students, was holding his ground and staring down Sasuke. "Don't do this, brother. You will regret harming those who care for you." Itachi told him, no fear in his voice, simply persuasion.

Sasuke let out a strangled laugh, raising the gun to point it in-between Itachi's eyes. "Begging will not save you." Then the shot rang out through the room and Itachi fell back, blood pouring from his forehead. Sakura had snapped out of her daze when she saw the, fighting off nausea as she pushed herself to stand. She struggled to get her legs to stop shaking and watched in horror as Sasuke moved to another table, squatting beside it. "Well, nice to see you fellows again. You remember me? C'mon! You used to beat me up in elementary school because I apparently 'Stole your girls'? No? Don't remember? Well, I do." Then several more gunshots rang out, mixing in with the screams of the wounded. Sakura saw blood pooling outward from under the table and fought down vomit. She began pushing harder to get her body under control and to listen to her.

Sasuke then turned and made his way over to their table. She saw Sasuke go to their table and then kneel before it, motioning for everyone to get out from under it. "I was hoping Sakura would leave a couple of you here so I could get my revenge, but she spoils me." He cackled, the gun shaking slightly in his hand.

That was when Sakura started moving, quickly sprinting across the room to where the gun was currently being pointed at Naruto. "Dear, dear Naruto. You're better than me, so eventually Sakura would have left me behind for you. I'm sorry, but I can't let that happen." Sasuke's actions froze when he heard a familiar voice call to him.

"Sasuke! Stop it! Please! Stop it, Sasuke!" She kept screaming at him as she ran towards him, her legs shaking as if they'd buckle any minute. When she reached him she slowly and carefully stepped between the frozen Sasuke and her friends, lifting her arms as if to form a barrier with her arms.

He stared at her with a horrified expression for several moments before her whispered, "You're not supposed to be here." Then, he was saying it. "You're not supposed to be here." And then, worst of all, he started shouting it. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!"

She stared at him before saying, "Stop it, you're hurting people." With those words the gun stopped shaking and his expression hardened.

"That is the point." He then settled a glare on him, his face devoid of any emotion except for overflowing anger. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way." He snarled his voice cold. Sakura looked back at her friends, Naruto shielding Hinata in his arms, Neji protectively standing in front of TenTen with a stern expression, Kiba holding Ino behind him, Chouji looking terrified out of his wits, Shikamaru looking at Sasuke with disgust, and Lee standing there without so much as a cheerful smile.

She turned back to Sasuke with tears streaming down her cheeks and sobbed, "I won't." Sasuke continued to look at her with a cold expression, slowly raising his hand and cupping her cheek with it. "I won't," She repeated then lunged at Sasuke, trying to get the gun out of his grasp. In an attempt to put all her body weight against his one armed pull on the gun she pulled it downwards towards her thigh. In once last frantic attempt to bring the gun back in his control Sasuke jerked his arm back, effectively pulling on the parts of the gun in his hand. The grip and the trigger. The loud gunshot filled the room and Sakura's grip on the gun went limp. She fell back, the bullet wound in her right thigh already flowing a crimson river. Before she hit the floor Shikamaru dove forwards and caught her. He then quickly pulled off his shirt and pressed it to Sakura's thigh to try and stop the already strong bleeding.

Sasuke stumbled back looking stricken. He stared at Sakura on the ground, bleeding in Shikamaru's arms because of himself. She lifted her head and looked at him, forcing a weak smile as she whispered through the pain, "Stop...hur-t-ting...pe-eople."

Sasuke stood frozen for several moments after that, just staring at the person who he loved most that he had just _shot. _His face then gained a look of resolution as he raised the gun; put it in his mouth, ignoring the raspy protests from his pink haired lover. "Goodbye," he whispered before pulling the trigger.

Sakura screamed as he fell, screamed as his blood sprayed on her, and screamed as she realized he was gone.

**A/N: **As always feedback is appreciated.


	2. Dreaming of Darkness

Sakura POV

Darkness surrounded me, clawing at me and dragging me downwards and back into the horrible event that would forever mark my life. In this place, where it was I didn't know, all I could do was replay what happened over and over again. I saw the gun, I saw Sasuke put it in his mouth, but worst of all, I _felt_ the blood as it splattered across me. I screamed and I just couldn't stop as everything around me fell into the background with only Sasuke's limp body in my view. I didn't understand. I knew Sasuke and his brother had always been competitive with each other, I knew there were several people at school he didn't get along with, and I definitely knew he could hold a grudge, but none of that added up to him flipping out and killing people.

His face after shooting me was the worst though. That was the first time in the whole ordeal I saw any kind of concern of regret on his face. _Did the other people mean __**nothing**__? _I wondered to myself, suddenly finding myself in the empty aftermath of the cafeteria. I curled up into a ball on the cold tile floor of the cafeteria, trying to understand, racking my mind for any signs he had given any of us before the shooting.

I was in the middle of thinking about the time a boy had bumped into me, knocking over my books and causing Sasuke to freak out, when I heard a gentle voice call my name. I lifted my head from the ground, looking upwards. The voice grew louder, a voice I now recognized as Naruto's, and suddenly I wasn't in the cafeteria.

I first saw white and wondered if I had died. Part of me was relieved and the other part, the part of me that wanted to live, felt more relief when I saw that the white was actually the ceiling of what looked like a hospital room. I turned my head on itchy pillow and immediately saw a chunk of blonde hair. Naruto was in a chair beside me, bags under his eyes leaning towards me as he continued to say my name.

"N-n...Naru?" I whispered my voice feeling like I hadn't used it in years. His eyes, which had been drooping from what I suspected was exhaustion, shot open and he began shouting.

"Saku! You're alive! You had us all so scared when you took the bullet and then there was all the blood and then you were out for a week and everyone was so scared..." He continued ranting, but I stopped listening when I heard him mention me being out for a week.

"A week?" I asked hoarsely. He nodded, his expression turning solemn. He then got to his feet and went to the sink on the opposite side of the room as me, pouring me a glass of water in a paper cup.

"You lost a lot of blood. They said you weren't supposed to live." He brought the cup up to my lips, tilting it so the cool liquid soothed my dry mouth. After a moment He reached over and pressed a button on my bed, an uncomfortable silence between us. Moments later a chubby, elderly nurse burst in, staring at me with a confused expression before she walked over to my right since Naruto was occupying her right. She then went to work checking all the machines attached to me.

Once she seemed satisfied she turned to me and asked, "How are you feeling dear?"

I considered my answer before replying, "Exhausted; I am experiencing some pain in my thigh."

The nurse then stupidly asked, "Which one?" _Which fucking thigh does she think? _I growled inwardly.

"The one that had a bullet jammed in it." The nurses mouth then formed an 'O'.

"I will up your morphine dose now that you're awake." Then she scurried out of the room, leaving Naruto and I alone again. Things remained silent for a little while, Naruto staring at me and I staring at my hands in my lap, somehow trying to stop them from shaking by staring them down. Eventually, after several minutes of that dragging on, Naruto reaching out to put a hand on my shoulder. I then had a sudden image of Sasuke reaching out, putting his arm around me, being alive. He wasn't alive anymore. I flinched away from Naruto, throwing my hands up defensively as I began to shake. Through my fingers I saw Naruto's hurt expression, but I couldn't bring myself to put down my hands. _He can hurt me, just like Sasuke did. He can betray me, he can hide things from me, he can __**hurt **__me. _Continued to run through my head over and over again.

Naruto dropped his hand back to his side and whispered, "Saku, they think you need to talk about what happened. The rest of us were under the table to all we heard were noises. But, you...you saw him. You saw those people die. You...you saw the bomb victims, you saw him shoot people, and we're all worried about y-"

I cut him off. "There was a...bomb?" I whispered harshly.

He nodded and continued. "That was the thing that killed the most people; it was the boom from behind you that threw you down. The cops said that bomb was the main part of Sasuke's plan. Cause a panic, walk in, and shoot. You got some glass in your back from the windows beside each door, so don't be shocked about some nasty scarring you're going to have." Naruto then swallowed and took a deep breath. "We're worried about what seeing that did to you. The doctors think it might be best if you went to some group therapy sessions. Well, in all honesty, they want to put you in a mental hospital."

I watched him, my mind slowly comprehending what he was saying. At first I was outraged, then I was sad that they thought I was crazy, and finally I realized I probably was pretty screwed up. If I freaked out and saw Sasuke every time Naruto tried to touch me I might grow to hate myself. "Okay." I told him, carefully lowering my hands.

"I'll call everyone and tell them you're awake, but I promise to only send them in one at a time and tell them no touching." My heart clenched painfully at the realization that I may never again be able to touch someone without feeling overwhelming fear. He then stood, waving goodbye as he told me, "I'm gonna let you get some rest, but I'll be back tomorrow with everyone else." I raised my arm, careful not to pull out my IV, and gave him a soft wave before closing my eyes and letting my exhaustion get the better of me.

*************************************************************************************************************************************  
>Sakura awoke to someone yelling, "FOREHEAD!" She opened her eyes in time to see Ino burst into the room, slamming the poor door against the wall. Ino sprinted towards Sakura; her arms wide open as if to hug her, when she suddenly noticed Sakura was cowering on her side in the bed with her arms up defensively. Ino felt like crying when she saw the effect the damn shooting had made on Sakura.<p>

"Sakura, it's okay." Ino murmured. Sakura slowly calmed down, her shaking ceasing and her arms returning to her sides.

"Pig, if you want everyone can come in. I'll be alright." Ino looked skeptical for several moments before nodding and walking back to the door, poking her head out in the hallway and calling everyone in. They slowly filled in one-by-one. First was Hinata, then TenTen, followed by Neji, Shikamaru behind him, Chouji following Shikamaru with Kiba to his right, and lastly Naruto walked in, closing the door after him.

With all of their brightly colored clothes the room looked slightly less sterile. "Hello." Sakura greeted them, forcing a small smile.

Hinata was the first to speak, her usually quiet voice almost inaudible. "We're so glad you're alive Sakura. I hope with your hospital stay and therapy you can get back up on your feet."

"Yeah, we're really glad you made it and that your doctors found a way to help your mind!"

Kiba told her, earning a sharp elbow from Shikamaru who then said, for once leaving out his signature 'troublesome', "What he meant was that he is glad your doctors found a way to help you with the trauma and mend the psychological wounds you obtained in the shooting."

TenTen then stepped closer to Sakura with Neji by her side, her expression dropping as she noticed Sakura shift further into her pillow. "We really hope you get out of the hospital soon. Prom won't be the same without you tearing up the dance floor. So many boys will be bummed they can't ask you." The brown haired girl sniffled slightly and Neji placed a hand on the side of her head, tucking her face into his neck as she began to cry softly.

"I'll miss your health lectures." Chouji offered, ironically munching on a bag of chips.

Sakura stared at all of her friends and then chided them. "Don't you guys worry about me. If you ever need to stop by for a short session with the rest of us crazies, don't hesitate."

Naruto looked at her with a horrified look and began to say, "Saku, you aren't cra-" but she cut him off.

"Naruto, I'm damaged. Until I do this, stay at that hospital and work out my problems I mean, I won't be anything less than crazy." Naruto seemed to accept her words since he fell silent then, his gaze dropping to the floor. "I do expect constant letters along with updates on how things are going. Just make sure they're at least _somewhat_ appropriate since they'll probably be monitored." Sakura told them, her gaze boring into Ino in particular.

"Yeah, yeah...no detailed stories..." The blonde girl muttered, crossing her arms before her as she pouted.

"So when am I going there? To the mental hospital I mean?" Sakura asked, glancing over at Naruto who seemed to have the most information on everything going on.

"They want you going straight from here to the mental hospital, so tomorrow you'll get your stitches taken out and I'll pick you up. We'll get some of your things from your house, only things allowed at the hospital of course, and then I'll take you there. Because this is supposed to be a stress-free transition I will be the only one going with you so you'll have to say your goodbyes today." Sakura had almost forgotten about her leg, the pain no longer there after he morphine dose had been upped, and instinctively looked down at her thigh. That scar was a demon it was going to take her a long time to get over, a long time to fight off.

A/N: I know it's rather short, but that was the perfect spot to leave off. I know I shouldn't be rushing this story since I'm likely to spiral down again with the way things are working for me. But in this random state of strong inspiration I cannot let this idea slip through my fingers. As always I really appreciate everybody's support. When I opened my e-mail to see around ten e-mails about reviews/story alerts/author alerts/story favorites/author favorite I was so close to crying.


	3. I'm Coming Home

Chp 3 School Shooting GaaSaku

A/N: For those of you who read chapter one early on, I made an edit to it. (I completely blanked on an extremely important action) If you really don't want to look back, then it was just that Sasuke placed a hand on Sakura's cheek when she said to him, "I won't." when he was telling her to move.

Naruto was by her side, gripping her hand when the doctor came in to remove the stitches the next day. Though the wound was definitely not completely healed, the doctors wanted more of a natural healing process to occur on her leg. That added onto the knowledge that once she was in the mental hospital it would be hard for her to get out until she was mentally ready, they needed to do this now.

This would be her first time seeing the wound that, in her opinion, had killed Sasuke. She wasn't sure how she'd handle it, but felt more at ease with Naruto by her side. When the doctor entered, a brunette man in his mid thirties, he gave her a smile and walked over to the locked cabinets above the room's sink to gather the proper tools for the removing of her stitches. After he had sterilized the forceps and pulled on some gloves he moved over to her right side, glancing at her briefly before pulling off the covers. Left in her hospital gown, Sakura sucked in a deep breath as the doctor began to roll up the right side of her tacky hospital gown.

When the wound was finally revealed, a red circular section on her thigh that was slightly indented, Sakura turned her head away and tucked it into Naruto's chest. She clenched his hand, a few stray tears slipping down her cheeks. That wound was the most difficult thing she would have to face, and its scar would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Through the rest of the procedure Sakura remained in that position, her head buried in Naruto's chest and his hand crushed in her tiny one. Once the doctor announced he was done Naruto kindly asked him to roll down the dress and leave. The doctor obliged and Naruto stared down at his friend in his arms. "Saku, we're gonna get you dressed in some real clothes and then go collect your stuff, okay?" The pink haired girl nodded into his chest before slowly moving away from him and releasing his hand. He grabbed a bag off a chair behind him and pulled out a blue, baggy t-shirt along with a pair of black sweatpants.

He set them on the bed beside her and watched as she pulled her t-shirt over the gown and then put the pants at her feet, pulling them up to her waist. She then pulled her arms into her sleeves, pushed out her hospital gown, and pushed her arms out the t-shirt sleeves. She then turned and hung her legs over the edge of the bed, prepared to walk, when Naruto pushed a wheelchair up in front of her. She raised a pink eyebrow at him and he explained, "They would prefer you stay in bed, but since that isn't possible you're going to be using a wheelchair for a while until they deem your leg fine."

She slipped off the bed into the wheelchair, adjusting her legs until she was comfortable. When Naruto put his hands on the handles on the back of the chair his hands brushed her hair, Sasuke running his hands through her hair filling her mind, and Naruto quickly removed his hands. "I'll push myself." She whispered, bracing her hands on the wheels. She began turning the wheels, pushing the chair forward.

After a long struggle out to Naruto's car, one that Naruto had to watch while standing by helplessly, Sakura pushed the chair up beside the passenger seat and lifted herself into the seat. Naruto then folded up her wheelchair, tucking it into the trunk of the car. For most of the way to Sakura's house they stayed in silence, but finally Sakura grew fed up with it and turned on the radio. A woman's voice played through the speakers, her voice filling the car.

"We pray for the families of those lost in the Tragic Shooting at Konoha High. Among the list of victims were Itachi Uchiha, Dai Sasaki, Kaede Fukazawa, and Sadao Hayashi as well as the bomb victim's who weren't directly targeted and name's are not being released. Another brave young woman, the girlfriend of the shooter, in an attempt to protect everyone and get the gun away from him, was shot and is said to be released from the hospital today." _They didn't mention him. They didn't say his name. He died too. He's dead and they didn't mention him. He was a victim, too. He was a victim of something none of us saw, something that pushed him to do what he did. _Sakura thought, her hand gripping her seatbelt tightly. She watched Naruto reach forward and shut off the radio, her gaze fixed on his hand. "They...didn't say his name." She stated, not knowing why she did so.

_Oh god, I didn't want to have to tell her this. _Naruto's grip on the steering wheel became white-knuckled as he thought that, glancing warily over at his pink haired friend. "A lot of people are, understandably so, very angry with Sasuke. He killed his brother along with those three boys. If it hadn't been for you he probably would have killed many more. He did start the whole ordeal and cause it, so many don't see him as a victim. Instead as the attacker, which in all honesty is true." She turned her face to the window, tears streaking down her face.

"You all act like I stopped some psycho from continuing his rampage." She hissed her voice shaking as she spoke. Naruto winced at her tone, trying to phrase his next words as best he could.

"Sakura, there was obviously something angry inside Sasuke that nobody saw. I always noticed the only person he only ever relaxed around was you." He swallowed, pausing before he continued. "I think...while Sasuke wasn't a psycho, I think he fought daily with the thing that made him so angry and one day he lost. One day he just wasn't strong enough to keep his anger away. You were the main reason he could always stay in control with how happy you made him. That's why people treat you as a hero, they recognize that only you could have calmed him, even for just a moment, which you did."

Sakura continued to silently cry, her blurred vision showing her the town as they drove through it. She opened her mouth, paused, and then spoke. "He did something that day. R-right before lunch he told me to go off campus for lunch and take everyone I liked with me. I should have known. When I texted back asking why and he didn't reply, I shrugged it off. I could have stopped all this, warned someone. Those people would be alive if not for my stupidity." Naruto's eyes widened. It was easy to see why Sakura, someone who only ever found fault in herself, would see that. He strongly disagreed.

"That isn't true. What were you going to report? My boyfriend told me to skip school and bring along people I like?" Naruto asked her calmly, staring straight ahead.

"I don't know Naru; I just know I could have done _something_." Knowing that Sakura would not change her opinion Naruto remained silent, hoping that the mental hospital could help Sakura in the first situation where he felt utterly helpless.

When they arrived at Sakura's house Naruto jumped out of the car and brought out Sakura's wheelchair. Sakura lifted herself into it and then pushed herself up to the steps. For the first time Sakura was really glad her parents had kept the handy cap ramp they had at their front door which had been put in for Sakura's grandmother who had since passed on. Sakura wheeled herself in it and nodded to Naruto as he opened the door, wheeling herself inside. "I'm home," she called, not sure what to expect since her parents hadn't visited her once in the hospital.

After a minute or two of sitting in the entry Sakura's mother came downstairs, her husband behind her with a comforting hand on her shoulder. At the sight of her child in a wheelchair Mrs. Haruno burst into tears, mumbling something about a snack before she darted off towards the kitchen. Mr. Haruno watched her go with a soft expression which hardened as soon as his gaze turned on Sakura. "You never did listen to me and look where that got you. That psychotic boyfriend went and shot up the school, even shooting you for Pete's sake! Why the fuck do you never learn anything!"

Naruto stood back, shocked by Mr. Haruno's temper. While he and Sakura's father had never been close nor did they talk much, he had never seen Mr. Haruno angry like this. Sakura, however, didn't flinch. She was used to her father's temper, preferring to hide it from her friends by keeping them away from him. "Sa-s..." She struggled to say his name, fighting her lips to say it. "..suke is not a psycho! He had some negatively directed anger, but that does not make him a psycho! And besides, I don't think you should be pointing fingers daddy dear. Take your meds today?"

"Was you little whore, he was a psycho. He's dead if you'd forgotten!" That was when Naruto decided to intervene, stepping between the two.

"We're just here to get her things for her stay at the hospital." Naruto reminded him, earning a smirk from Mr. Haruno.

"Guess your little boyfriend rubbed off on you. Let them see what a crazy bitch you are!"

"Like father, like daughter!" Sakura countered, pointing an accusing finger at him. Before they continued Naruto grabbed the handles on Sakura's wheelchair and quickly pushed her to her bedroom, which was luckily on the first floor, and closed the door behind them.

After taking a deep breath he looked down at Sakura and asked, "Since when is your dad such a bastard?"

"Since always. Why do you think we never hung out at my house when my parents were home?" Naruto realized that she was right. They always went over to Sakura's house when her parents weren't there and she shooed them out whenever her parents got home. He shook himself out his daze and was about to ask more when he noticed she wasn't where he had left her. He looked up to spot her with a duffel bag on her lap, digging through her closet to search for clothes.

After grabbing several pairs of sweatpants, jeans, jean shorts, and a few skirt, she moved onto tops. She picked out tons of t-shirts, tank tops, a few tube tops, and also got out a few sets of pajamas. She then threw in two bathing suits and a sundress just in case with a pair of matching cork heels. She then started picking out a few small possessions she wanted to take with her. First she chose her sketchbook with a set of colored pencils, second was some change and her address book so she could call people and write letters, a journal she could start to record her progress, her stuffed Dalmatian from when she was a kid, a pair of fuzzy yellow lab slippers, and her iPod. She knew she probably wouldn't get the iPod immediately, but hopefully would be able to convince the doctors later on she could handle it. Finally she added her toiletries.

She then zipped up the bulging duffel bag, turning in her seat to hang it over the back of the chair. "Naru, what am I gonna do when I can't get somewhere with my chair?" She asked, staring down at the offensive object.

"When we get there I'll put in a request for you to get you some crutches. I also realized you're gonna have to bring a parent or guardian to sign you in so..." Naruto trailed off, hoping he wouldn't have to fully explain that he had screwed up and forgotten to mention she would have to bring one of her parents.

"I'll bring my father." Sakura told him firmly, closing her eyes with a sigh.

"But I thought you didn't like your dad?"

"Yeah, but with my mom crying she won't be able to see straight enough to sign the damn sign in sheet."

A/N: I know, I really should pace myself, but I just start typing and BAM, I have a chapter. Hope you guys like.


	4. Meet the Roommate

**A/N:** Just want everyone to know I didn't just make up the shit in this chapter. It is all fact. I did a TON of research on mental hospitals as well as got personal stories on it. Also, the medical stuff is true, Ex: Sakura's allergies and her reaction. That is a real reaction to the real medication Singulair. I had that reaction and it was extremely scary. Also…..um…..oh yeah! I may not have everything correct in my Gaara history lesson, but I made his story MY way so…..yeah!

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment and let out a deep breath before she opened her door to see Naruto holding her wheelchair. She forced a small, comforting grin for him and lifted herself into the chair. Once she was settled she twisted in her seat and outstretched her arm, silently asking Naruto to hand her her bag. Naruto did and Sakura subconsciously grabbed the part of the bag furthest from Naruto's hand. Once she had settled the bag on the back of her chair she turned and began wheeling herself up the cement walkway to the hospital.

As soon as she entered the hospital the differences from a regular hospital were painfully obvious. First, the front desk had rows and rows of safes behind it along with what looked like one of those security metal detector machines at airports. Second, the door into the rest of the building looked like it was reinforced steel. Third, and finally, everything looked very secure. She pushed herself up to the desk, but had to stay about a foot away from it so she would be able to see the person behind it since the chair made her extra short. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I'm checking in." She called, her nervousness calming slightly when an elderly woman behind the desk looked up and gave her a gentle smile.

"I'll get your paperwork sweetheart." The woman disappeared from Sakura's view for several moments before she reappeared holding a clipboard with paperwork and a pen clipped onto it. "Here you go, honey. Take your time." Sakura nodded and began on the paperwork.

Name: Haruno, Sakura

Age: 16

Weight: 96 lbs

Height: 5'4

Reason for stay: School shooting. Was recommended to stay here to mend some possible psychological damage.

Allergies: Singulair

Reaction to Allergy: Seizures

Any Relative with mental illness: Father has severe Bipolar Disorder (BPD)

The rest of the form was insurance information and her father's signature so she handed it off to him and with a grunt he filled it out. She looked over at Naruto with a scared expression. He went to comfort her with a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, but then jerked his hand back as if it had been burned when he remembered Sakura's reaction to his last attempt at touch. She gave him an apologetic frown when suddenly the clipboard was shoved back to her by her father. She then passed it to the patient nurse who began her instructions.

"Alright dear. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take your bag and you're going to be gone over with a metal detector just to make sure you don't have anything on you that could hurt yourself or others. I will then meet you on the other side of that door," she said, motioning to the previously noticed steel door, "and then I'll show you to your room. You will have a roommate since you aren't in our more severe district. Later you will receive your possessions, the things you brought that are deemed unsafe will be kept in a safe up here until you leave or are approved to use them." Sakura nodded, taking in another calming deep breath.

"I'm ready." She then turned to Naruto and gave him a weak smile before she passed her bag to the woman over the counter and pushed herself over to the steel door. Seconds later there was a metallic 'click' and the door swung open to reveal the nurse. Sakura pushed herself through the doorway and the nurse closed the door behind her, the closing door reminding her faintly of a cell door closing. The nurse stepped forward and quickly swished the metal detector over her, ignoring when it went off because of her chair, before returning the instrument to her waist and beginning to walk down the hallway.

"My name is Patrice, but you can just call be Patty if you like. We will hopefully be seeing more of each other during your stay." Sakura like the old woman. She had spunk (A/N: Yes I just used spunk) yet she was a kind person with a rather calming sense around her. As Sakura pushed herself down the hallway Patty showed her different things.

"The rooms to your left and right are visiting quarters. We do require that you've been here at least a week and get settled in before we start letting people visit." Sounded sensible to Sakura. Let the patients become more adjusted to their surroundings before you brought back a piece of the world their trauma occurred in.

"Coming up we will meet a lobby with four way stop. Since this is the first floor with the most sever patients to the right are therapy rooms, straight are the patients rooms, and to the left is the recreation rooms. The second floor is where the progressing from severe patients are. Same layout as this floor, but the rec rooms, bedrooms, and therapy rooms have more objects in them. Third floor is where you'll be staying, where most of the calmer patients are, same layout but once again more furnishings." That was when they met the lobby area with the four way split.

Sakura noticed that to the right and left of the hallway they had entered in were stairs and to the right and left of the hallway straight across from them were an elevator on each side. "We'll be using the elevator because of your leg. You will be given morphine for the pain along with any other necessary medication if your therapist deems it appropriate to help stabilize you." Once Sakura had pushed herself in the elevator the nurse pressed the button for the third floor.

"Wouldn't it be safer to keep the most dangerous patients on the top floor so they could be isolated if needed?" Sakura asked, somewhat concerned to get out you had to pass nut case row.

"We don't see our patients like that here Miss Haruno. They are here so we can help them; we don't label them threats and lock them away." Patty replied with a professional tone but quickly added without the tone, "We actually put them down there because ground level is safer for them because over half of them are suicidal. The others want to hurt _other _people."

Sakura gulped. "Well, at least they're getting help to try and get over what put them in here."

The woman turned to Sakura with a smile after she said that and laughed, "You'll be just fine here sweetheart." Then the elevator stopped and Patty swiped her ID card through a slot on the elevator panel and the doors swung open. "We do have a very secure elevator, you have to have a staff ID card to enter the stairs, elevator, leave your room after curfew, and some other things. If you need assistance there are nurse call buttons in the dorms beside each bed and in the rec rooms. There aren't any in the visitor's rooms or therapy rooms since if you're in there you will already be supervised."

As Sakura pushed herself out of the elevator Patty continued to explain the hospital. "On this floor there are surveillance cameras in all rooms except for the bathrooms and bedrooms. I will tell you that is a privilege and any inappropriate behavior in either of those rooms will result in you being moved down a level where there are cameras everywhere, which is extremely hard to undo."

"Since unlike the first floor there is no reception area or visiting rooms in the hallway straight ahead there are more dorms. This floor has the most patients since not only do people move up here from lower levels but a lot of people with less severe issues that need to be monitored for relapses or need a more stable life structure to get back up on their feet check in here." Sakura nodded, not sure if she liked the idea of there being more people with issues surrounding her. _Will that help me or make me worse?_ She wondered, glancing around.

Patty then started walking straight and Sakura pushed herself along behind her. They kept going down the hallway until they reached the end and Patty turned around to face Sakura, pointing at the door to the left. "This will be your room. You will be staying with a young lady named Temari. I'm not allowed to tell you other patient's diagnoses' so you'll just have to ask her if you want to know. I hope you enjoy your stay at the Konoha Mental Residence."

With that Patty turned and walked back down the hallway they had come from, leaving Sakura to sit there and stare at the door. She leaned forward and knocked on the door, figuring if it was as heavy as the other doors looked then she wouldn't be able to open it. After several moments of silence there was shuffling and the door was opened to reveal a blonde haired girl with her hair back in four pigtails. The girl wore a pair of black with red polka dots pajama pants with a matching T-shirt.

"Are you Temari?" Sakura asked her voice quiet as she kept glancing between her lap where she was wringing her hands and the girl in the doorway.

"Yeah, but you can quit acting like I'm gonna jump you. I stopped doing that when I moved up from the second floor." Temari told her with a grin, pulling the door back and holding it there so Sakura could wheel herself in. Immediately to the right was a small bathroom that contained a shower, toilet, and a pedestal sink.

Sakura kept going forward and there was a desk on the right wall and two white, metal beds with a small nightstand in-between them against the left wall. Sakura turned her chair so she was facing the left wall, noticing there was a small window on the outer side of each bed with a small smile. At least this place didn't totally look like a prison. "You're gonna be in the far bed since the right one is already mine." Temari informed her, walking over to her bed and picking up a book that had been left there.

"I was just wondering," Sakura began, hoping her question wouldn't bother her new roommate, "but why are you in here?"

The blonde girl turned her gaze on Sakura, her expression thoughtful. "When we, my brothers and I, were young my father was bizarre. He was convinced Gaara, my youngest brother, was a demon because my mother died giving birth to him. One night my father was particularly angry and got our uncle Yashamaru to try and kill Gaara. In the end in self-defense Kankuro, my other younger brother, and I held down Yashamaru as Gaara killed him." Sakura look at her incredulous, shocked Temari could talk so openly about the gruesome event. Her expression must have showed her thoughts because Temari added, "Sakura, it is Sakura, right?" Sakura nodded and Temari continued, "The whole story doesn't bug me because I know worse things happened to Gaara because of our father. Taking out Yashamaru, my brother's assassin, was just a weird form of protecting my little brother, something I never had the guts to do before then."

Temari then promptly returned to her book, saying, "Gaara has only reached the second floor through our ten year stay, but Kankuro is up here with us so you might see him walking around here in his kitty hat and make-up. The kid's got a weird way of coping," before acting as if nothing had happened or she hadn't told some horror story. Eventually, after five minutes of Sakura trying to grasp what Temari had said and Temari reading, the blonde girl looked up and asked, "What are you in for anyways? And why are you in a wheelchair?"

Sakura, unlike Temari, was less comfortable speaking about the event that put her there. "I was in a school shooting. I was shot and they don't want me re-opening my injury until it's healed so they put me in this." In a flash Temari was off her bed and standing in front of Sakura.

"The one at Konoha High where that boy freaked out and started shooting people for no reason? We aren't allowed to watch the news, but I heard some nurses talking about it and..."

A/N: Yep, stopping there. It is crucial I do or else, well if I tell you why then that'll ruin the next chapter! I won't be updating as much (not because of another rush of depression, I'm in more of what doctors call mania right now, on top of the fucking world!) but because my brother is coming home and my grandma is visiting for the time of the year the man in red stuffs his fat ass down out chimney, so I'll be really busy. I'll try to give you guys a Christmas present chapter (or if you don't celebrate Christmas just a random present or present for what you do celebrate)


	5. Panic on the Rise

**A/N: **I am sorry for the extreme OOCness. I love Naruto, but I am not that far through the series. I have skipped around a lot, so my version of some characters (actually, most of them probably) are gonna suck. Also, I am not including all of a certain group because while I know some stuff about the ones I will include, all the other ones are people I just learned about while researching that group...Enjoy!

**A/N 2: I am so sorry. Thanks to a reviewer I noticed that I was stupid enough to put Itachi in Sakura's therpy group. I know excuses suck, but I had one of my worse migranes today, so reading and typing was not comfotable so when I read the list of Akatsuki members I was all like, "Okay...Deidara, Sasori, ITACHI..." Sorry, I really feel dumb for that. Big thank you to Huh for that information on my screw up!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Gaara and Sakura would be married, Naruto and Hinata would be madly in love, and Sasuke would be back in Konoha tied to a tree so he couldn't leave.

Sakura froze at Temari's endless babbling about the show as images filled her head. She saw all her friends, she felt herself being thrown to the ground, she saw Sasuke shooting his brother and those boys, and worst of all, he saw him shoot himself.

She began hyperventilating as she was trapped in the horrible reenactment of the event in her mind. She watched as over and over again Sasuke shot her, freaked out, and then proceeded to take his own life. She began to shake seeing the blood spill everywhere multiple times, the flow of red never seeming to end. She looked down and suddenly the red was covering her hands, dripping down between her fingers and splashing against the floor. She shook her hands, trying to get the blood off, but it didn't seem to disappear. Then suddenly there was a weight in her hands and the gun Sasuke had used was in her blood covered sticky palms.

"Don't do think Sakura." Sakura jerked her head up to see Sasuke standing in front of her.

"Wha-" But she cut herself off when her arm began to rise, the one clutching the gun. She tried to stop her arm, but it continued to rise until it was pointed to shoot between his eyes. "No! I don't want to hurt you!" Sakura screamed, but her finger had a mind of its own as it gave a sharp tug on the trigger, producing a loud bang and immediately after a crimson stream from Sasuke's forehead. "No! Stop it! Stop!" She continued to scream, more blood on her hands appearing and overflowing, covering the gun. That was when everything just turned dark, my screams disappearing as I faded into nothingness.

Temari POV

I stopped talking about the shooting when I heard heavy breathing in front of me and looked at Sakura to see her hyperventilating and shaking in her wheelchair. "Oh fuck..." I kneeled in front of Sakura, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "Sakura! Look at me! It's not real! Whatever you're seeing isn't real!" That was when things got even worse as Sakura began to scream, her blood curdling scream filled the room and echoed through probably the whole fucking place.

"Sakura! Quit it! They're gonna put you on a lower level! Sakura! It isn't real!" That was when a nurse burst through the door with a needle in her hand. She spotted Sakura and ran to the pink haired girl with a serious expression. She pushed the needle into Sakura's arm and injected the sedative into Sakura's arm and the girl almost instantly stilled, falling into unconsciousness.

The nurse turned to me and asked, "What caused her panic attack?"

"She told me she was involved in the Konoha High shooting so I started talking about it and next thing I knew she was in a panic attack." Temari was slightly shaken up. Sure, she'd seen plenty of patients go into panic attacks, but never with such a small trigger and so quickly.

"Thank you for the help. I sadly don't think she's ready to be up here." The nurse sighed, studying the limp pink haired girl.

"What level are you taking her to?" I asked, concerned about the girl. While we hadn't known each other for long, I didn't want the scared and frail looking girl to be thrown into the first floor with the most dangerous patients.

"Probably just to the second level, honey. She isn't suicidal or dangerous to others so she won't be going all the way down." The nurse pulled her warlike talkie off her waist and pressed the button on it. "I have patient 1998, Sakura Haruno. She experienced a panic attack and will be moved down to the second level." The nurse then took the handles of Sakura's wheelchair and pushed her out of the room and into the hallway.

As the door closed behind them I sighed, "Stay safe, Sakura."

Sakura POV

I groaned and opened my eyes, feeling extremely groggy for some reason. Once I had forced my eyes open and the blurriness had faded I noticed I was in a bedroom, but it wasn't the one Temari and I were supposed to share. _Temari...where is she? Wait, where am I? Weren't there windows and a nightstand before?_

I sat up quickly, fighting off the rush off dizziness, and I noticed that I wasn't in fact in the same room as earlier. This one lacked the natural light because of not having any windows and there wasn't a nightstand between the bed I was lying in and the..._Did I just see purple in the bed beside me? _I looked back up and saw a girl dressed in gray sweats and tank top with short purple hair and a paper flower tucked behind her ear.

"Who are you?" I asked, jumping back slightly, falling backwards off my bed and pushing myself up against the wall parallel to it. The girl seemed to realize I was awake and looked up at me, her expression blank in contrast to the colorful drawing she had in her hands.

"I am Konan. I will be your roommate from now until you are approved to move back to the third floor or sent down to the first floor." The girl kept a serious tone as she spoke, her face giving away little emotion.

"Wait, why'd they move me down?" I asked timidly, still not moving from where I was with my back pressed up against the wall.

"You apparently had a panic attack and breakdown mixture of some sort and had to be knocked out by a sedative." The girl then returned to staring at the picture in her hands, studying it intently.

"But I don't belong here, I'm alright. It was one incident!" I was growing hysteric. If I was down here that meant it would take longer to get out and that I _wasn't _okay and I wasn't ready to accept that yet.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Looks like your stay is going to be prolonged." For the first time emotion showed on her face, a flicker of sympathy.

"But I have to get out for graduation so I can go to college with my friends and then go back to my normal life!" I explained to her, my breaths coming shorter and shorter.

"Relax. Two breakdowns in one day will only make your record worse." She told me and I knew she was right so I struggled to slow my breathing, succeeding after a couple minutes. "There. That's better. It isn't much different on this floor. The way us patients see it is that the first floor is for hopeless psychos and people who need a period of time to come down from whatever event put them in here. The second floor is considered the rehab where you go to group, begin communicating, and slowly start to heal. The third floor is where they put you when you're ready to go home, but they want to monitor you for a while just to make sure you don't relapse."

I liked her explanation even better than the nurses. "Thank you," I whispered, pushing a small smile.

She shook her head at me and told me, "Don't force a smile. Nobody will believe your false happiness here. Smile only when you truly feel happiness." Then, much like Temari, she returned to her form of entertainment acting like nothing had just happened. I knew it was probably going to be a mistake, but I asked anyways.

"What brought you here?" She looked up at me with a gentle smile, seeming to remember something pleasant.

"I am part of a gang that goes by the title Akatsuki. We and the law don't exactly see eye to eye, so after several illegal events we were brought here after our trial, being labeled 'mentally unstable'. Some of us have made it up to the second floor so I will introduce them to you, but sadly some of us are complete psychos and they remain on the first floor." I nearly laughed at the way she spoke of her friends, as complete psychos, when a sudden thought struck me.

_Does everyone think I'm a psycho too? _Konan must have noticed how I seemed to tuck tail and curl into myself because she explained, "Don't go getting worse on me. I'd like to have a roommate for a while who isn't screaming about her make up." At that I did laugh, picturing Konan calmly sitting on her bed with a vein in her forehead about to burst as some girl screamed about getting her makeup taken away.

"I don't wear any. I prefer to try and make something out of my natural looks." Konan smiled at me then, seeming to agree with that idea. I glanced at her picture once more, enjoying the bright crayon color splashes covering the page. "Did you draw that?"

"Yes. Art is an important stress reliever for me." Konan informed me, her gaze pouring over the piece. She then turned her gaze back to me, smile still in place, and told me, "We should probably head out. Group starts soon and it would be best if for the next few days you went to every group possible. It would show willingness to participate and heal, which might help you to make your way back to the first floor and out of here."

Suddenly, after understanding this place and meeting Temari and Konan, I didn't really want to go home; that didn't really bother me either.

Konan offered to push me down to the group therapy room, but I politely turned down her offer. While she was nice, if I couldn't deal with Naruto who was my best friend I doubted I could deal with an almost stranger touching or being near me. I pushed myself, with Konan walking beside me, to our group room and once we arrived Konan opened the door for me so I could push myself in.

I glanced around the room, noticing there were chairs set up in a circle with some occupied and others empty. The first person I noticed was a huge red haired man with thick muscles and an emotionless expression. Despite his appearance he had a rather friendly and calm aura around him. To his left was a man with long blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail with his bangs pushed off to one side. Next, beside the blonde, was a man wearing an odd orange mask. After him was a tall muscular man with blood red hair and a kanji on his forehead that I couldn't read from where I was.

Konan stepped forward to start introductions and first pointed at the red haired man. "This is Jugo. Jugo was also a part of Akatsuki. He's here because he has these instances where he goes on rampages and cannot control them." Jugo waved and gave me a smile before Konan moved onto the blonde.

"This is Deidara. He is here because of his love to blow things up with his clay bombs. Also a member of Akatsuki."

He glanced at me and asked, "You don't happen to have any clay, do you?" and when I shook my head he turned his focus away from me.

"We also have Tobi," she motioned to the man with the mask as she spoke, "who is also a member of Akatsuki."

"Last, but not least, this is Gaara." She told me, motioning to the boy with the kanji tattoo and blood colored hair. "He isn't a part of Akatsuki, sadly." She then added after a moment of pause, "We have several more members here, but they are still down on the first floor. Hidan, Sasori, and Kisame are down there. We had more members originally, but over the years our numbers have decreased."

I studied each person, trying to gain some information on them by the way they acted, when the door slammed open behind me causing me to jump in my seat and a busty blonde woman burst in. "Alright brats, let's get this started."


	6. Don't Touch Me

School Shooting Chp6 GaaSaku

A/N: I know it's short, but I wanted to give you a Christmas/whatever holiday you celebrate gift! Enjoy the holidays and I hope you all can survive spending time with your families!

The busty blonde walked in and took a seat in the chair one away from Gaara. "Sakura, come over here." She removed the chair between her and Gaara, making room for my wheelchair. With a nod to Konan I pushed myself over to Gaara and the woman, parking myself between them. "Alright, everyone, let's welcome Sakura into our group and give her one fact about ourselves. Konan you start." Konan took a seat beside Jugo and cleared her throat.

"My name is Konan and I enjoy drawing." I already knew that, but kept quiet.

"My name is Jugo and I don't like to hurt people." I nodded, not yet understanding the true meaning of his words.

"My name is Deidara and if I don't like you I blow you up." He made an action with his arms to resemble an explosion as well and whispered boom while leaning towards me. The blonde woman dropped her head into her hands and groaned.

"My name is Tobi and I'm a good boy!" The boy with the mask proclaimed, jumping out of his seat and standing in front of me, leaning forwards so our faces were inches away. I leaned back, trying to sink into my wheelchair as I turned my face away and closed my eyes.

"Dumbass, I think you're scaring her." I heard a voice from my right growl to me and glanced over to see Gaara glaring at Tobi.

Tobi stared at Gaara for a few moments before peering at me with a hurt expression and asking, "Is Tobi scary?" I stayed leaning back in my chair with my face turned away as I shook it slightly.

Konan then decided to step in and help me out, "Tobi, please back off, you're scaring her." With a short glare at Gaara and an 'Hmph' Tobi returned to his seat with his arms crossed over his chest. "My name is Gaara, and I don't like Tobi."

Tobi jumped back out of his seat after that comment, thankfully not moving towards me that time. "Tobi is a good boy! Gaara is a bad boy!"

The blonde woman, who had yet to introduce herself and seemed to just sit back and watch everything, finally stood up and intervened. "Gaara, Tobi, knock it off." She then turned to me, her scowl from seconds earlier replaced with a welcoming smile. "Hello Sakura and welcome to group 13 therapy. My name is Tsunade and I will be running these sessions as well as be your one on one therapist."

Deidara looked up then with a sinister grin and asked, "Did anyone else know that therapist is a conjunction of the words the and rapist." I turned to him with a shocked expression, not believing what was going on. _If I'm with these people, am I just as crazy? _

"Shut up tranny, you're freaking her out." I was surprised to hear Gaara coming to my defense again. Then, I remembered Temari telling me about her brothers. _This is her brother Gaara?_ _Makes sense that he has her attitude. _

Deidara then bared his teeth in an animalistic way, snarling, "Already claiming her as your bitch?" Gaara stood up at that comment, clenching his fists.

"Don't talk about her like that!" Gaara growled back, keeping his stance when Deidara stood up and walked forward until he stood face-to-face with Gaara.

"So it would bother you if I messed with your whore?" Before Gaara could react Deidara lunged around him and went at me, putting his arms over my shoulders and the back of my chair, placing his lips on my neck and pushing his tongue out to trace circles on my neck. I froze at the contact, Sasuke replacing his face instantly. I was no longer in the group thirteen group therapy session, but trapped in a memory of Sasuke and I kissing.

Then, as quickly as he was on me, Deidara was gone. I was snapped out of my memory to see Gaara with a furious expression, Deidara on the floor tangled with a chair that he must have been thrown into it by Gaara who standing defensively in front of me. His leg, back, and arm muscles were clenched as if ready to attack his prey, which happened to be Deidara, at any moment.

When Deidara groaned on the floor, but didn't make any move to get up, Gaara looked back at me with a softened expression and calmly questioned me, "Are you alright?" I dumbly nodded, unable to form words in the moment. That was when Tsunade stood up, much too late in my opinion, and clapped her hands together.

"I think that's enough for today." She pulled a handkerchief out of her suit pocket and handed it to me, pointing to her eyes before her gaze turned on Deidara. I dabbed my eyes with the cloth, surprised to find them wet. "Konan, take Deidara to the elevator while I call for a nurse." Her sharp gaze then turned to Gaara. "Work on that temper Mr. Subaku. Please escort Miss Haruno back to her room. The rest of you may go back to your rooms." Everyone filed out, Tsunade closing the door after us. Tobi and Jugo walked away, back to their rooms presumably, while Konan helped Deidara to the elevator with Tsunade barking things into her walkie talkie.

"Do they have a mini hospital or something here?" I asked Gaara who was standing behind me watching me with an unreadable expression.

He seemed to come out of his daze when I spoke and nodded. "Unless you have to go there nurses avoid telling you about it and definitely try and hide its location because of the sharp shit and medication down there." It made sense; with the way people were here I guessed it was probably best for the workers and patients safety.

I then started pushing myself along, Gaara by my side, as I asked the question that had bothered me since Gaara had first stood up for me by telling Tobi to back off. "Why did you defend me?"  
>He seemed surprised at the question and paused before answering.<p>

"Word gets around fast here. At first I couldn't give a damn about a new girl, but when I heard you'd been with Temari I dug around for some info. When I heard she didn't try and get rid of you and actually talked to you, a nurse doing medication rounds heard you guys and that's how a nurse got to you so fast, and if my sister isn't trying to kill her roommate she ignores them. I figured if she liked you enough to talk to you then you were worth watching out for. She's a pretty good judge of character." He refused to look at me as he spoke, but his words still brought a smile to my face.

"You're sister told me about what got you guys here. I'm sorry about your father. While mine hasn't hired assassins, he has tried and succeeded to hurt me." He looked down at me incredulously, whether it be because of what his sister told me or my own experiences I didn't know. I was surprised at myself I for telling him what I was, but it might have been the fact we'd seen similar things, maybe it was something else. "I really appreciate you helping me out with Deidara. I was so scared when he touched me, he reminded me of..._him_."

Gaara stared at me in silence the rest of the way to my room, studying me. When we arrived at my door we stopped and he opened his mouth to speak. "If my sister trusted you enough to tell you about our father and Yashamaru, then I really need to keep you safe." He took his time formulating the next words, seeming to turn them over in his head. "When you're ready to tell me who _he _is, I'm ready to listen."

He then pushed open the door, making sure it was propped open by the magnet on the wall, before he turned and ambled away. I smiled at his back, glad that there was someone I could count on, other than Temari since we were a floor away, in that place of pure insanity. For once I could feel a sense of that foreign emotion I had always longed for.

Safety.


	7. Let's Play a Game

School Shooting Chp 7 GaaSaku

**A/N**: Sorry guys, I wanted to have a chapter up earlier, but my dad was in a furious mood so I couldn't risk turning his anger on me by getting on the computer and 'Using his fucking stuff!' This was also an extremely difficult chapter for me to write.

***WARNING: **This chapter contains mentions/minor scenes of child rape, a horrific but very real issue. There will be bold stars surrounding it, but as an extra warning a scene of rape is in the flashback after Sakura's shower and mentions in her dream, the stuff in italics. I really do recommend you read the dream part since it is graphic and VERY important.

Sakura POV

I sat in Konan and I's room on my bed for a while, waiting for her to return so I could feel some kind of comforting presence. I realized being alone in a room in this place was rather creepy. As I lied back on the back, I thought over what I knew about Gaara. His father had tried to get him assassinated, he had killed his uncle, and he had just protected me from creepy Deidara. That was almost nothing to go on, but at that point I resolved Gaara was an alright guy.

When I heard the room door click open I jerked my head towards it and a peaceful expression flooded my face when I saw it was Konan. She walked back in, now dressed in flannel pajama pants and a purple t-shirt instead of her earlier clothes, and glanced at me before walking over to her bed.

"It's kind of early, so why did you change?" I asked, motioning to her pajamas.

"Deidara's blood got on my other clothes so I had to get in my pajamas early. Most people here stay in them all the time though." She explained as she ran a hand through her purple locks, occasionally snagging her fingers on a knot that she would work out.

"Deidara was bleeding?" I asked, slightly surprised. I hadn't seen any blood, but that may have been because I was too focused on Gaara.

"Yes. When Gaara was defending you, and I'm sure you weren't quite back to reality when this happened since you seemed to be remembering something, Gaara yanked him back by the collar and then punched him in the face. Broke Deidara's nose." I was left to stare at Konan, shocked that Gaara had gone to such a length. Sure I knew he had thrown Deidara away from me, I was thankful for that, but I hadn't realized he had also punched the blonde. Admiration for Gaara swelled within me and I had an urge to find him and wrap him up in a bear hug. "It seems odd since Gaara has never before, other than for his sister and somewhat his brother, showed protective instincts." She turned her gaze on me, giving me a weird almost _knowing _look.

"Yeah, his sister didn't try and kill me so apparently that means I'm alright so Gaara said his sister would be mad if he let his sister's friend get killed." I explained, confused when Konan looked at me like I was completely clueless.

"Perhaps." She said, turning her attention hair after giving me a look that asked 'You sure there isn't something else?'. I became completely confused by that look but before I could ask about it a knock at our door startled me. Konan stood up from her bed, seeing I probably couldn't even open the damn door, and went to answer it.

"I have Miss Haruno's possessions. Her iPod, colored pencils, shaving razor, and heels are being held until further time." The man at the door told Konan as he handed her my bag and then left, closing the door behind him.

"Kinda expected those things to be gone." I admitted, thanking Konan as she handed me my bag. "I'm going to go wash up." I put the bag on my lap and then wheeled myself to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I placed my toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and hairbrush in the medicine cabinet with a mirror front that was above the sink. Thankfully the sink and medicine cabinet were pretty low, so I didn't have to push myself up _too _much to reach them. I placed the rest of my bathroom stuff that I wouldn't be using back in my bag other than my showering things.

I placed those on top of the closed toilet seat, put my bag on the floor, and began undressing. Once I was down to my underwear and the bandages on my back I wheeled myself over to the shower, picked up my shower stuff, opened the door, lifted myself into the shower chair that had been place in there specially for me, and then stripped off my underwear. I glanced over my shoulder at my back, for the first time seeing the bandages from the damage done to my back by the bomb. I then closed the shower door and turned on the water to a comfortable temperature. Once there I rinsed my skin and hair before massaging shampoo and conditioner into my hair. I then rinsed it out, watching the conditioner slip down the drain.

With the water loosening them and making them easier to take off I began removing the bandages on my back, staring at the some healed and scaring already and some still almost open wounds. There were only ten or so cuts, but each made me wince as the bandaging was pulled off them. Since some had cracked scabs some blood trickled down my back and dripped to the floor, mixing in with the water and swirling down the shower floor and into the drain. As sudden images entered my head of blood all over the cafeteria entered my mind I felt the sudden urge to throw up.

My hand flew up to cover my mouth and leaned forward in the chair until my breasts were pressed against my thighs just in case my nausea got worse. After several minutes with struggling with the scent, sight, and nausea of liquid death I got a hold on myself, climbing out of the shower into my wheelchair. I threw out my bandages and wheeled myself over to my bag and grabbed some fresh ones. _These will be impossible to put on...I could wrap a towel around my front, put some pants on and ask Konan for help..._

**_*****_**_Flashback_

_A tongue reached out and swirled against a young girl's skin, causing her to protest and wriggle in the older girl's grip. She began to whimper and soon tears flooded the seven year old's eyes as the older girl continued to fondle her flat chest and grind against her. The young girl's sobs filled the room, to be heard by no one but the one causing them._

_"It's alright. All friends play this game." The older girl whispered in the seven year old's ear, beginning to work on reducing the girl's clothing to nothing. The young girl managed to get out from under the other girl and made a mad dash for the door, hoping to escape her supposed 'friend' and get away from the game she didn't like. When she had ripped open the door into the hallway and was moving to run she was thrown to the ground, the older girl's weight keeping her there. "No. You can't leave until I say so." _

_She flipped over the younger girl, dragging her back up onto the bed and using her weight as well as her hands to pin down the seven year old below her. "Friends play games together." She then dove back at the young girl, attacking again with her hands and tongue as the young girl cried and yelled._

**_********_**_End Flashback_

Normal POV

Sakura brought a violently shaking hand up to her eyes, pressing her delicate fingers to her eyes. _I think I'll do them myself..._ Slowly, and poorly, she wrapped her back with bandages and then dressed in a blue long-sleeved shirt that had black stripes with matching blue and black flannel pajama pants. She pushed herself back into the main room with her slippers on, her hair pulled up into a bun, and her stuffed Dalmatian in her arms. She stared at Konan, who was once again studying a colorful picture, before she shook off the memory and rolled over to her bed and lifted herself in. As she did so she flicked off her slippers and pulled the stuffed Dalmatian she had dubbed 'Dipper' from his collar which had such written on it. She closed her eyes for a moment, not realizing how exhausted she was until she was asleep.

**_******_**_Dream_

_She was seven again, childishly chasing her best friend's dog. Then she bumped into her best friend, a tall blonde girl of thirteen. She had been the first person Sakura had met after moving and even with the age difference the two had become great friends. She looked up at her friend, nervously smiling. "Hi Sakura. You want to play a game?"_

_Sakura, her innocence preventing her from seeing the lusty smile her friend wore, nodded enthusiastically. "Alright Saku, let's go up to my room!" Once they were there her friend explained, "Now, get undressed like we're going swimming and I'm going to loan you a bathing suit." Sakura felt extremely uncomfortable. What kind of game was this?_

_Suddenly she saw her and her friend biking along together, herself feeling very scared of her friend. "What is the game you like called?"_

_"Sex." Her friend replied, and Sakura promised herself to never again play 'sex'. It was a scary game and she didn't like it at all when her friend made her. He momma told her that her friend was nice and always set up play dates for Sakura and her friend and Sakura was forced to go to them since she wouldn't tell her parents what her friend did to her. She heard the way her daddy talked about people of the same type, or gender as he said, who kissed or touched each other. Would he hate her too for not being able to stop her friend and having those things and more done to her by someone of the same gender?_

_**********__End Dream_

Sakura awoke with a scream, her screech filling the room as she bolted up in bed. Her breathing was heavy and it took several minutes of her eyes darting around the room to convince herself that her dream was a thing of the past and that friend had been left behind with another move. She glanced over at the still sleeping Konan, a shiver of fear running up her spine, before she began readying herself for the day. She dressed in two sizes too large black sweatpants and just threw a lacy navy blue camisole on with an also extremely baggy black zip up hoody. She was glad she had prepared for one of those days when she desperately needed to hide her body from the world and crawl into a corner of her mind and try to ignore those horrible memories.

She brushed her teeth and hair, not wanting to look in the mirror to see how deathly pale she looked as she always did after a particularly horrific flashback. She wished she could give herself amnesia, but bashing her head against something didn't guarantee it, just a concussion. Shaking her head to again rid herself of unwanted images and thoughts she managed to pull the room's main door open on her way out and noticed plates of breakfast. She grabbed one, closed the door behind her, and pushed off to find somewhere she could eat in peace.

And hopefully with some distraction from her thoughts not in pieces.

**A/N: **This chapter has been the first point in this story I just wanted to up and run from my own story. I got it finished though and hopefully you guys like it.


	8. One Girl Wonder

_**A**_**/N: **I be updating!

sakuraxgaara asked why Sakura was sent to a mental hospital for her injuries. They sent her there because of her _psychological _injuries/damage. After watching her boyfriend, someone you rely on and someone that you often share a special bond with, shoot your classmates and then themselves the doctors were concerned for her well being. Trauma victims can sometimes become hostile, have flashbacks which can be dangerous because they become unaware of their surroundings and act as if they are in the memory they see, sometimes hurt others in when feeling threatened, or resort to self harm to lessen emotional pain or to help get rid of survivors guilt. They wanted to monitor her in a mental hospital to make sure she was alright, which she proved she wasn't when she showed she was afraid of touch and receives flashbacks.

And for AnimeObsessed1, I don't think I could write a happy story if my life depended on it! I also have issues with not being able to write nice fathers...hee hee, I'm just evil!

Enjoy!

Sakura POV

As I pushed my chair I noticed there were windows at the end of the hallways and began wheeling myself toward the one in my hallway. Once there I stopped and decided to eat breakfast, sighing as the sunlight filtered through the window and illuminated the area I was stopped. While I wasn't always a huge nature person I had my moments and living in such a closed in place would probably make them more numerous.

After eating some of the eggs on the plate as well as one of the pancakes I pushed the bacon and remaining pancakes around the plate, uninterested. Finally I turned my chair to head back to my room when I almost collided with a mop of red hair. My hands intently went up defensively and the plate, being jostled by my quick movements, fell to the floor with a crash that echoed through the hallway.

"You okay, Sakura?" A masculine voice asked, and fighting off my instincts, I slowly moved my hands back to my lap, taking in the sight of Gaara dressed in grey sweats and a black wife beater inch by inch. I then gave him a soft nod, not trusting my voice. "Did I startle you?" Another nod gave him his answer and he politely stepped back a little before crouching down and shoving the food back on the plastic, and thankfully not broken, plate.

"Thank you." I managed as he stood back up with my plate and silverware in one hand, his other hanging limply at his side. He gave me a small smile, motioning with his empty hand for me to follow him.

"We've got morning group in about twenty minutes, do you want to go? We could walk together there." I gave another gentle nod, something I was doing a lot, and we headed out towards the group room. On arrival I looked around in a paranoid manor, making sure Deidara wasn't waiting to jump out at me. A gentle voice quickly reassured me he wasn't. "Deidara is in isolation for a while. Since he didn't really hurt you they can't put him back on the first floor, but he lost the privilege to interact with other patients." Gaara then quietly added, "I wouldn't mind if he lost the privilege of keeping his dick. See how he feels when they saw that off."

I laughed, somehow finding Gaara's violent idea funny. Gaara glanced back at me with a soft expression before we seated ourselves in the same chairs as yesterday as he dumped the plate on the floor beside him, no one else in the room.

"I know this is a personal question and you kinda freaked out last time you were asked, but why are you here? I know you're afraid of touch and you get panic attacks or flashbacks sometimes, but most of the people in here were checked in by force and are dangerous. You just seem alone and scared." I was silent for a couple minutes, trying my best to answer his question while keeping myself from freaking out as I thought about the past couple weeks events.

"My boyfriend was the Konoha High Shooter." That was all I said, waiting to be either put in the accomplice category or the victim category.

Gaara chose neither. "So what happened?"

"He didn't show up for school that day, he had supposedly left home early but didn't show for class." The next part left me riddled with guilt and I had to breathe deeply before admitting it. "He texted me when Ino, a friend of mine, and I were walking to the cafeteria. I don't remember exactly what the text said, my mind has been on overdrive lately so details are hard to focus on, but basically it told me to skip school and go off campus for lunch with anyone I liked. I texted him back asking why, but when he didn't reply I just brushed it off. He was just being weird and when we hung out after school it would all make sense."

Gaara watched me intently as I told my story, but I strangely didn't feel uncomfortable. Maybe because instead of scaring me and trying to act like he knew my situation he protected me from what scared me and did know what it was like to have the one thing you find love for be killed. "Ino got ahead of me and when I went into the cafeteria, the bomb in the doors behind me into the cafeteria went off and I was thrown to the floor. He walked in, shot and killed his brother Itachi, which I witnessed, and-" Gaara cut me off then.

"Itachi's dead?" I nodded, confused on how Gaara knew him. Gaara must have seen that I was puzzled because he explained. "Itachi was the only one to escape prosecution for the Akatsuki crimes. His dad had the money to get him a good enough lawyer to get out of the prosecution."

I nodded, making a mental note to notify the others at group they had lost a member. "Anyways, after that Sasuke shot three boys saying they had beaten him up over girls or something." I took another deep breath, the scent of death leaking from the memory and into the therapy room. "Then he went at Naruto, claiming Naruto would have taken me from him. I got between them and tried to talk him down. For a second it worked, he seemed to calm down, but then I asked him to stop hurting people and he went back to this scary guiltless murderer look. Then he told me to move."

"I wouldn't and made a dive for the gun, trying to get it away from him so he couldn't kill anyone else." The red head beside me listened silently, his expression remaining calm. "In the struggle he shot me in the thigh." At that point I did something I hadn't thought I'd ever do. I showed him the wound. I pulled down the waistband of my sweats on my right side, revealing the gunshot wound turning scar. That was when Gaara did grimace, his look showing his distaste for what had gone down.

"When I fell back, my leg bleeding quite a bit, and Shikamaru caught me Sasuke looked terrified. I remember thinking; _Did those other people mean_ **nothing**_? _Sure I was later glad that he cared enough to be upset about shooting me, but at that moment I could only realize that Sasuke really didn't care about those other people's lives. Then, with my eyes still fixed on him, he put the gun in his mouth and shot himself." I flinched when I felt a hand on my right then left cheek, swiping across them. I shrunk away from Gaara, but understood when I saw that his fingers were wet. As I brushed away my tears with my sleeve I was glad Gaara wasn't hurt by my actions like everyone else. He understood the fear of being close to others.

I was about to thank him when Jugo walked in, a confused expression on his face as he looked from me then to Gaara then back at me. I turned my face to look away from him, nervous under his intense gaze. Gaara's voice brought a soft smile to my face, reminding me of how much I was growing to like having him around. "Will you quit staring at her and sit your ass down. That is unless you want to play Deidara's role today in being punched across the room?"

Jugo shrugged and walked over to take his seat, silence filling the room until Tobi came sprinting in, yelling about some scary flower lady. When he ducked down behind my chair I tensed and Gaara, immediately noticing, smacked Tobi upside the head on more of the side of Tobi's head so he fell sideways away from me.

"I can't deal with your freaky shit this early Tobi." As Gaara said this I noticed he took on a stronger front around others, something I was glad he dropped around me. I probably would be scared of him and unable to talk to him like I had if he was, to me, 'That menacing guy in my group therapy'.

Tobi whimpered from off to my side and I was about to ask him to calm down when Konan walked in, looking absolutely livid. "Where is Tobi?" She asked, her voice sounding deadly.

Deciding Tobi wasn't that bad and I didn't want to risk his life I stalled. "What did he do?"

She turned her frightening gaze on me, my instincts making me shrink away. When she saw that her glare became lighter but didn't lose its terrifying strength. "He broke my crayons." I couldn't help but to burst out laughing. She sounded like a pouting little kid after another little kid broke their favorite toy. She stared at me with a shocked expression like everyone else in the room. Midway through my laughter Tsunade walked in, looked at me, and told us, "I don't want to know."

She took her seat on my left after yelling at Tobi to, "Get his ass of the floor and into his seat before she made it hurt for him to sit!" I didn't think your therapist was supposed to be violent, but I wisely kept that opinion to myself.

"Let's go around the circle and confess something we did or felt recently that we aren't supposed to. If you feel you have been progressing you may talk about anything that came up around you that upset you or brought up unwanted thoughts. Konan, start."

Konan shot one last glare at Tobi before clearing her throat. "I wanted to kill Tobi this morning after he broke my crayons." That time I managed to stifle my laughs, but still found what she found funny.

"I felt very angry at my nurse when she almost dropped my medication. I wanted to hurt her." Jugo admitted, his voice revealing the shame he felt towards his actions.

Tsunade said the next one. "My name is Deidara and I am sorry for being an ass to Sakura."

"Tobi didn't like scaring Sakura! Tobi sorry for being a bad boy! Tobi will be a good boy!"

Gaara groaned at Tobi's hyper speech before he made his own. "I feel no regret towards attacking Deidara for treating Sakura like a whore."

I smiled softly as he said that, feeling that same urge to grab him in a bear hug. It was then that I realized it was my turn. "I...uh...I remembered some shit from when I was a kid I didn't want to?" I said, but more of asked, wondering if that was the kind of stuff I was supposed to say. I didn't usually swear, but when that topic or my dad came up I tended to get pretty tense and act tougher as a defense mechanism I guess. That was all I really could talk about anyways because I hadn't been here long enough for regretting actions.

Tsunade nodded, whipping out a notepad and pen from who-knows-where. "Mhmmm...Would you like to add to that?"

I didn't really, but as Konan had said, going to and participating in group would help me out. "I used to know this girl who fucked me up pretty bad. I didn't tell anyone because I was scared." I found my hands, clenched in my lap so tightly my knuckled were white, extremely fascinating as I 'added to' my earlier statement.

Tsunade blinked a few times, looking surprised I had said anything, and then wrote something on her notepad. She then glanced around the group with a hopeful expression before asking, "Anyone else care to share?" She was greeted with silence. She then stormed out, mumbling something about psychotic brats giving her headaches. Slowly everyone began to leave, only Gaara and I remaining.

He watched me for several moments before he spoke. "Want to hit the rec room? We've got a whole day to waste." I nodded, following behind him as he stood and headed out of our group room for the rec room. Maybe this place wasn't a place for psychos and hopeless monsters. Maybe it was a place to find hope and heal, two things I hadn't hoped to ever do after the way my life had been.


	9. Five Questions

**A/N: **Freaky had an intervention! (I'm not ready to go telling the whole internet about my addiction and the childhood trauma that was dug up, but I will tell you guys it has nothing to do with drugs and that lots of my childhood trauma can be found in my stories, written word for word from my memory. Though, I haven't been lucky enough to have visited a mental hospital to try and fix my issues.) So after that, I was pretty messed up and it's taking me a while to accept and get over that shit I dug up and the flashback and easily found triggers aren't helping. Anyways, done with being a whiny brat! Enjoy!

Once we got to the rec room I glanced around, checking everyone out. There were several elderly people playing cards, a young boy with brown hair that stuck straight up who was talking to another boy with short brown hair and glasses and with a girl who had red hair pulled up into two pigtails, and there were two nurses wandering around the room and making sure nobody was whipping out weapons for a massacre. That ran shivers down my spine and I shook off the looming thoughts of what had happened, focusing my attention of burning holes in the back of Gaara's head with my stare.

He seemed to notice my intense stare because he turned around and looked at me with an amused expression and inquired, "Do I have something on the back of my head?" Slightly embarrassed that I'd been caught staring my cheeks became flushed and I shook my head, managing to smile despite how stupid I felt.

"You want to play ping pong?" He pointed to the nearby ping pong table as he asked, falling silent afterwards as he waited for my answer.

"Sure, but I'm not very good and I will probably be even worse now that I can't move side to side." He nodded, no pity in his eyes, only understand. I liked that about him. He never looked at people as less or like they were delicate because of circumstances, but he always showed understanding and somehow made a person forget about what was bothering them.

After wheeling myself over to the table I positioned myself on one side while Gaara stood behind the other, smirking as he picked up the blue paddle left on his side and then the ball. I lifted up my red paddle and gave him a nervous smile, hoping I wouldn't play as badly as I thought I would.

He served it an easy one right to me and I managed to hit it back, but as the pace of our game picked up he decided to up the stakes. "For every win, the winner gets to ask the loser one question that has to be answered honestly. Deal?" Though I wasn't particularly interested in that idea since it included honesty, I gave a shaky nod. As the game progressed I fell into the pattern and got the hang of the game, but he still ended up beating me ten to six since we were going to ten.

The next game I put a ton more effort in and won, giving him a teasing smile when I did so. After that we went on to play four more games, Gaara winning one and I winning three. I was rather pleased about winning more of the games, but had suspicions he went easy on me after seeing my hesitation to accept his offer. After putting the paddles and ball back I followed him over to a couch eleven or so feet from the couch the three kids were seated on facing in the opposite direction of us, stopping beside it.

"I can't believe kids are here." Inside, I was thinking, _If I'd talked, could I have gotten help after what happened with Katie? Could this be my second visit if I'd told someone and gotten help? _

"Kids are actually usually victimized more often because of their innocence and the attacker is usually someone close to them, family or a friend, so the attacker can convince the kid what happened was out of love or some other obscene reason. The attacker can also convince the kid not to tell and because the kid usually knows and trusts them, they won't tell anyone. Few kids even admit what happened to them until they're older and have been traumatized by flashbacks and other side effects of trauma for their whole life. I was almost lucky in a way since after my uncle was killed what happened to me was discovered and I was sent here for recovery."

What he said struck me, being exactly what had occurred for me. Katie told me she taught me that game because all close friends played and if I didn't, we weren't friends. She told me our parents shouldn't know about it because it was one of those secrets between friends you don't tell **anyone**. I didn't totally believe her, but because of the way my father spoke of same gender sex I was scared of being hurt and disowned along with the fact that as a child I believed her being my best friend she would never hurt me. Despite Katie thinking I believed her, I still hid from her, was scared of her, and avoided that game at all costs.

Gaara seemed to notice my silence because he waved a hand in front of my face and called my name, his face distorting into a concerned expression. I, unable to find my voice, just nodded and after he stared at me in silence while I managed to recover my voice I told him, "You're right." He seemed confused for a second before a devastated look washed over him, making me turn my gaze down to my hands in my lap.

Moments later, the tension between us thick, he asked his first question of two. "Question one: what terrifies you the most?" I thought of my father, I thought of Katie, and I thought of the shooting. All three places I found I wasn't strong enough to prevent the tragedy. I was too weak to stop my father from hurting me, to stop Katie from touching me, and to stop Sasuke from hurting those people.

"I'm scared of being too weak, I'm scared of losing control." He nodded, waiting for me to ask my questions. "Did your uncle treat you well, causing you to love him, before he tried to kill you?" It was an odd question, but I was wondering about Gaara's relationship with his uncle before the attack.

He blinked several times, seeming to be astounded by my question choice. "Well, yeah. Since my brother and sister were kept away from me to stop them from becoming 'evil' also, I was lonely. Yashamaru was the only one to treat me well."

I thought as much, figuring that gave him insight on his theory about child attackers and child abuse victims. "Question two: when I talked about children being attacked and why they don't talk about it, why did that upset you?"

"I was attacked and that person who attacked me was close to me and I was scared to tell. Honestly, I have never talked about it to anyone, scared of being hurt by my father because of his beliefs on things related to what happened to me." Gaara seemed slightly confused by my explanation, obviously not able to understand some things I said because he didn't know the nature of the attack.

"Have you and your siblings resolved the issues between you since the attack?" He nodded before adding on his confirmation.

"I was angry at first, convinced they also saw me as a demon, but gradually they got through to me and I learned my father prevented them from seeing me and threatened them if they did try and see me." It sounded like the father Temari had described to me.

"You seem extremely kind and relaxed, being relaxed with the exception of defending me from Deidara, so why aren't you back in the world?"

"Well, that has several contributing factors. First, I still go into these fits of rage where I can never remember anything after, but I pretty much go on a warpath so I am not yet ready to be released. My doctor is saying I need to find a source of comfort and support in my life to ever fully heal, so I'm still looking for that. Also, because once I get out of here I will have to be placed in foster care. I don't know if Temari enlightened you on this, but my father was in jail for while, not staying a full sentence because of his professional position as the owner of a importing and exporting company and his skilled lawyers. Though he got out of jail, he was deemed unfit to care for my siblings and I. If I'm here until I'm eighteen when I get out I can get a place of my own, maybe even live with Temari and Kankuro, and do what I like."

His reasoning made sense. No one really wanted to go into the foster care, especially someone like Gaara I could understand that for because after such a harsh life, being taken home by a stranger wasn't a comforting idea. "Last question. Why do you take any interest in me? I know it has to do with your sister, but most people I know wouldn't go to the length of breaking the nose of a guy who called their sister's friend who they knew nothing about a whore. Well, with the exception of Naruto."

He seemed to mull his answer for a while, thinking about it carefully, before replying. "When I saw you come in, after hearing my sister had even taken interest in you, I saw myself when I was little in you. Being thrown into somewhere completely foreign, surrounded by potentially dangerous people, just coming out of a horrific event, and while I didn't know this then, coming from a home where love is just a word. I saw myself and I remembered how no one stuck their neck out from me and that I was always fighting to stay out of danger here. I had to fight my all my own battles, even when it was four against one."

I stared at him, soaking in what he said and feeling that familiar warmth and the need to envelope him in a bear hug. Not yet ready for a hug, I lifted a shaky hand from my lap and placed it atop his. He removed his, making me feel hurt at first, but then he wrapped his large warm hand around my shaking one.

"I didn't want that to happen to you."

* * *

><p>Gaara POV<p>

I walked Sakura back to her room, having spent the rest of the afternoon chatting away with her about pointless things. Her hand was still enclosed in mine, her slender fingers intertwined with mine. Our linked hands were on one handle of her wheelchair and my free hand was on her other as I pushed her along, something even I was surprised she felt safe enough around me to let me do. It reminded me of how delicate and thin she really was, but I refused to treat her as such. I knew that would upset her, especially after hearing that her fear was being weak and out of control.

As we reached he room I stopped pushing her, moving around so I stood in front of her. "I'm really glad we talked today." I always liked being around her, whatever I said wasn't made fun of. She just listened.

She nodded calmly, making me glad she wasn't nervous like she had been earlier. As I slowly released her hand I leaned down beside her ear and whispered, "Maybe someday you can tell me about the nature of your attack."

With that I turned and walked away, leaving her to think over my proposition.

**A/N: **Like? Completely Despise?


	10. Call Me Death

**A/N: **Wow, I think my last chapter had the biggest reaction of any of my chapters before it! Thank you so much to everyone who favorite/alerted my story, favorite/alerted me, or reviewed! If not for you guys this story would probably be at a dead insperationless halt.

Answering Questions:

StarKiss666: As far as things go in my story, there will be an exception for Gaara and his siblings so he can see them. Since Gaara was there for ten years, I'm saying he got there at six and I'm putting him at sixteen so he's the same age as Sakura(who was a junior in high school). Technically, most would consider her still a virgin because her hymen was not broken in the rape since it was by another female, but some rape victims don't consider themselves virgins and look at themselves as dirty (metaphorically). It really is horrible the way rape victims are affected, and-in my opinion- I am keeping her symptoms to a minimum. After going years with that traumatic event locked away inside your mind with only your parents knowing, and them not really caring, someone would be more heavily affected. And while yes, Shikamaru and Sakura's other friends will probably be in counseling, they didn't have as strong of a connection to the shooter and even to need a stay at the mental hospital. The number of dead will be mentioned in the upcoming chapters. Thank you so much for your long review with questions that showed me you really played attention to detail and wanted to know things about my story! It makes me feel so grateful to have such amazing people reading my story!

Enjoy!

A blonde, with a guard on each side of him gripping his arms tightly and shoving him along, let a malicious grin spread across his face. Stashed in the section of his pants where his "male parts" were located and he could not be patted down without a reasonable cause, was the object of his amusement. He glanced back at the nurse's station, the grin growing wider. He then turned his head back to face the hallway, picturing his soon-to-be victim.

"I'm coming for you." He hissed under his breath, so quiet the guards couldn't hear. As he sinisterly thought over his plans, he mentally scolded the nurse. Medical records should not be left in easy to access places where their content could result in 'accidents'.

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><p>Sakura POV<p>

I awoke after a dreamless nights, thankful for the peaceful sleep. I sat up in bed, glancing down at my leg. I gently prodded at my still healing wound, thinking over my actions the day before. I had been surprisingly open, but it was easier to do with someone who shared your twisted past. I pushed myself out of bed and into my wheelchair before going to the bathroom to do my morning routine.

I brushed my hair, washed I face, brushed my teeth, and got dressed in a pair of blue jean shorts with an off the shoulder blue long-sleeved shirt that had a matching in color cami underneath. I then wheeled myself out of the room before going out into the hallway. With a heavy sigh I continued to push myself along. I glanced around the hallways, feeling disappointment settle in my stomach when I didn't see Gaara. I had, in only a short time, grown to like and become accustomed to Gaara's companionship. It felt odd to be alone.

I made my way to the therapy room, pulling open the door and entering to find Tsunade sitting in her usual seat, scanning through a clipboard full of papers. She looked up when I entered, her expression surprised. "Sakura, you know we don't have group, right?" I was taken by surprise by that and shook my head. "You came in on Friday, and now it's Saturday. Through the weekdays we do group sessions, Saturday our individual sessions, and Sundays are the therapists' day off as well as visiting day. Don't get any ideas though; guards and nurses are still here. If you need me, though, I can be called in so you can talk to me anytime, even Sundays."

I thoughts that over for a while before I spoke. "But then, your whole life practically revolves around your patients." I put my arms out sideways, upside down to emphasize her confusion with Tsunade. "These are people you don't know, you have no duty towards, and you put every minute of the day into them?"

A large smile spread across Tsunade's face and she replied, "Just because I don't know someone or don't owe my help to them, doesn't mean they don't need my help." Tsunade pushed her reading glasses, which I had never before seen her wear, up onto the top of her head and leaned back in her chair. "I do this because I want to help people. I don't want people to be haunted for the rest of their lives by regrets and scary experiences." Then, to direct her words towards me specifically she added, "You don't want to be afraid of close contact forever, do you? Sure, you may be able to touch another person, tap them on the shoulder, maybe even some day hug them, but you'll never get rid of that fear unless you talk about it. Those times, when you need to suddenly talk, don't go by my work schedule."

I nodded, finding truth in Tsunade's words from how a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders when I had talked to Gaara. Or maybe it was just the fact that Gaara cared enough to listen. "Can I make a phone call? I would like one of my friends to visit me tomorrow." Tsunade nodded, standing up. She motioned for me to follow, walking out of the room and down the corridor. She stopped beside a pay phone, a few feet past the entrance to the rec room.

"Visiting hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.." Tsunade told me as I pulled the phone off the hook and cradled it between my ear and shoulder as one of my hands tapped in Naruto's number, it being one of the few engraved in my mind from dialing it so much, while the other held onto one of wheels to keep me in place. As soon as I was done dialing I pulled my slender hand back and wrapped my fingers around the cold, plastic phone.

Three rings sounded in my ear before a familiar voice picked up the phone. "Hello?" I smiled, able to picture Naruto with his goofy grin.

"Hey Naru."

"Sakura!" His voice became more distant, probably from moving back from the phone. "Guys! It's Sakura!" I heard a chorus of hellos to me before Naruto spoke again, this time is voice its usual booming loud. "What's up Saku?"

"I'm not ready to see everyone yet, but I wanted to see if you could come see me tomorrow. I know I haven't been here long, but I need a familiar face." He didn't reply for a moment, silence between us keeping me on edge. _What if he's busy, I'd be making him feel guilty for not being able to go! Or what if he doesn't want to see m-_

My thoughts were cut off when Naruto replied. "Yeah, that would be great Saku." He sounded chocked up, and I realized he must have been trying to compose himself.

"Idiot, its okay to cry. It won't bother me." I heard a weak 'okay' from the other end of the line before a few sniffles. Then after a few moments of sniffles, he spoke again. "I'm sorry Saku. I honestly thought Sasuke had gotten better."

Confusion slammed into me, making me grip the phone tighter. "What are you talking about?"

"Back in middle school, before you guys were going out, he used to talk about killing his brother and everyone who ever him wronged. I talked him out of it, told him it was ridiculous and would hurt everyone that cared about those people. Then he told me he'd just kill himself. I refused to let him think that way, or so I thought. I guess all I did was trap those violent thoughts inside him where he wouldn't say them and they just got worse."

The phone was in my death grip now, being clutched in my hand with my knuckles white, but the difference in their coloring almost not noticeable with my pale skin. "I've got to go Naruto, but you listen here. Sasuke fucked things up. He had everything. A best friend that cared about him, friends that always treated him well even if he barely acknowledged them, parents who wanted the best for him, and a girlfriend who _loved _him and would have done anything for him. He threw that away. You may have been right about the anger, something inside of him he struggled with, but we were always there to fucking listen. Never once were we too busy for him. Only was he ever too busy for us. You have no blame for his actions. He made a horrible choice, and he ruined **everything**. This is not your fault."

Naruto fell silent, seeming to digest my words. "Thank you Sakura, for that."

Then, he hung up, leaving me tightly clutching the phone in my hands. I hadn't even had time to tell him when to come.

"How did that go?" Tsunade asked, startling me into dropping the phone.

"Fine, fine." My words were rushed, causing Tsunade to lift an eyebrow.

"I could hear your part of the conversation, and it sounded like you were upset over _something_."

"One of my friends was blaming himself for what happened." I growled, getting tired of her pestering. I really wasn't up for interrogation after my conversation with Naruto.

"Sakura, not five minutes ago we discussed this. You need to let out things that bother you. It's okay to let people know you're not alright." She scolded me, and I winced when I realized she was right.

"I know." I admitted, grabbing the dangling phone and placing it back on its hook. I stared at the shining metal that boxed around the phone as a small form of privacy. I reached out a hand, placing my thin fingertips against it and letting my nails click as they touched the metal. "But I can't burden people with my issues. If I say no, I had an absolutely shit day and I have a migraine, what are they supposed to do? They can't undo my bad day, they can't make my migraine disappear, but they do gain a sense of guilt for not being able to help. I do when people tell me their troubles anyways." I kept my gaze fixed on the phone box, refusing to look at Tsunade as I said my confession.

"Did you ever think that maybe it would be okay to let other know you aren't okay, because then they can be a little gentler with you? Don't you think they'd feel even guiltier later if they find out you had a bad day and a migraine and they were loud and complained about an easy day?" I blinked, somewhat startled on Tsunade's perspective. My lips were parted for a moment, words almost slipping through my lips, before I closed them and pressed them together in an amused smile. I slowly pulled my hand back from the phone box, returning it to my lap.

I decided to allow my earlier thoughts become words and told Tsunade, "You sound identical to my mother. After she cleaned me up and told me daddy meant well, she would always spill some sort of positive philosophical shit to me. I never believed a word of it, so don't expect it coming from you to make much of a difference. I really don't mean to be rude, but I'm kind of working on this thing of not always being a disappointment when I don't follow peoples hopes."

Tsunade nodded, flashing me a broad smile. "Everyone fears failure. Some just fear it more than others." She paused, seeming to think over her words carefully before she spoke. "Sakura, I know this isn't an entirely appropriate question, especially because of our current psychologist patient relationship, but are you afraid of death?"

I laughed at her question. I had a habit of doing that when I was nervous; felt backed into a corner, or, like any other person, was amused. This case, I was amused. "I've never feared death itself since it is inevitable. I do, however, fear dying a pathetic being. I don't want to die alone and sad and I especially don't want to die a useless death."

She seemed somewhat baffled by my response. "What do you define a useless death?"

"I have nothing against people who kill themselves, I can understand pain can drive people to make certain choices, but I refuse to allow myself to take that way out. With all the money, time, and resources that have been wasted on my life, I cannot just end it. I want to die doing something to give back to world. It may sound corny, but I want to be the person that dives into that burning building, saves the little kid by sending them out the window into an awaiting safety trampoline, and dies from inhaling too much smoke. I want to be the person that protects someone from being mugged or attacked and dies in the process." I had always felt that way, ever since the first time I'd pressed my father's gun to my head and rested my finger on the trigger. I would always know I'd been millimeters from death, but it had been a death without benefit for others, except for the fact I would be dead that is.

"That is very noble." Tsunade observed, and I let out another round of amused giggles.

"Not noble, just sensible."

**A/N: **I know, I'm being slow. I was considering suicide myself (no pity wanted, just realization the note on my profile about my stories going up for adoption if I'm gone for so many months is serious), but Sakura's theory is one of my own. Doesn't mean I'm safe from myself, but it helps to think that way when the gun in your hand keeps going towards your head. So, things haven't been easy, but then again, when are they? Thanks for reading!


	11. Therapy Day

**A/N: **I don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm taking out Deidara's 'un'. It would make his identity too obvious every time he spoke. Also, because writing 'flashback' right before a flashback (to me) kinda kills it, the flashbacks will be completely in italics so they will be easy to recognize. This chapter does have some disturbing child abuse in the flashbacks, so it you may be triggered or upset by them, please don't read them. I really don't like thinking I upset the people who take the time to read my stories.

Mrs. Nekochan X3: I am not afraid of death, and yes, I would like to die a noble death where someone else gains benefit from my death. Though I am what would be categorized as suicidal (a serious attempt under my belt, though it was-obviously-a failure, and a couple where I just hacked up skin and drew some blood) I always bounce back from attempts stronger. I do hope someday I can get better!

StarKiss666: Though my mother and I are pretty close in terms of being able to talk about family and grades, anything that concerns me on a deeper level than that is too much for her to handle. Knowing _her _child isn't perfect is not easy for her. I am really glad you care about your mom so much since it's always good to have a reason to continue living!

Disclaimer: (I keep forgetting this) I do not own any character from the show Naruto or the show Naruto. I only own the plot of this story, brought forth from my twisted and evil mind.

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><p>After my conversation with Naruto, Tsunade offered to take me down to the cafeteria for a brunch type snack. I agreed nothing else to do since Gaara was probably with his therapist. We headed to the cafeteria and Tsunade held the door as I pushed myself inside, earning a small thank you from me. We headed over to the lunch line, making small talk about some of my friends who I would probably ask to come visit me.<p>

"What would you like to eat?" A chilling voice asked, causing me to snap my head up to look at the person behind the food counter.

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><p>Deidara POV<p>

I smirked when I noticed how much just my voice spooked the pink haired bitch. Tsunade looked at me with a disapproving glare, seeming to be angry that her conversation with Sakura had been disrupted.

"Getting some punishment worked off, Deidara?" I turned my gaze on the busty blonde for a moment, dismissing her with a simple 'yeah'.

I returned my focus to Sakura, feeling satisfaction when I saw her sink back in her chair. "So what can I get you ladies?" I asked in a sickly sweet voice.

Tsunade seemed unamused by my actions and barked, "Two Cesar salads with tomatoes and cucumbers. Waters on the side." I nodded, glaring at the blonde woman for ruining my chance to hear Sakura's squeaky, scared voice. I turned and grabbed two plates and loaded them with lettuce, Cesar dressing, cucumbers and tomatoes. Tsunade had been hell bent on installing a salad bar, claiming patients needed to stay in good health while they 'recuperated'.

I shoved the salads over the tins of food to the counter in front of them. I then went over and grabbed two glasses, filling them with water from the soda machine. I pushed those over the counter too, smirking at Sakura. She rolled backwards slightly, causing my smirk to grow. Tsunade snatched up the plates, giving me a death glare before turning on her heel and marching away. After a moment of hesitation Sakura followed, looking reluctant to turn her back on me. _Smart girl._

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><p>After lunch Sakura excused herself from Tsunade's presence and went back to her room, glancing around to find that Konan was not in the room. <em>Good. <em>She grabbed her towel and wheeled herself into the bathroom. She, after seeing Deidara, had slipped again. She had lost her touch with her surroundings and was floating in a world where everything was numb. A place where everything that happened meant nothing to her, triggered no emotion, and ultimately made her seem almost robotic. She hated that place more than being angry or broken down in sobs, because she became so lifeless while in it. She turned on the shower, making sure the water was burning hot before she stripped of her clothing and lifted herself into the shower chair while leaving her towel in her chair and her clothes strewn across the floor.

Once in the chair, she shuffled it forwards until her face and chest and stomach were directly under the fiery spray. After several moment of letting the sting wash over her, she lifted her arms and began exploring her body, finding the scars she knew the locations of too well. First, the elevated white one on her lower back.

_Daddy was angry, so angry at her for the fight she had gotten in at school. She had known it was bad to fight, that she wasn't supposed to hurt other students, but the boy had provoked her. He had taunted her, **berated** her, because of the purples and blacks that were prominently displayed on her pale skin every day. She had taken years of it, every day thinking of what daddy would do and how he would feel if she got into a fight, but today she hadn't felt the strong gut-wrenching fear she felt every other time she thought of her father._

_She had instead felt only the rage in her, the sting of every insult the boy had ever said to her rising to the surface to bring forth a strong sense of disgust towards the small brown haired eight year old classmate. Thoughts and images rushed through her mind, thoughts and images of beating him into the blacktop and watching his blood turn it red. In the back of her mind, she felt disgust with **herself** for thinking such vile things, but she was too busy planning to dwell on morals. So, when the boy had been going out for recess, she had approached him and thrown a punch straight into his face. His nose, and ego, were broken by that punch. She had then thrown several more, too much in an angry frenzy to recall where they hit._

_After that she had been dragged away from him by a teacher who had immediately called her parents and sent her to the principal's office. Her mother had picked her up, but under some spell of bad luck, the office lady had first called her father and left a message on his answering machine about the incident._

_When he walked in the door, he didn't speak. Just silently stormed into the kitchen, drew the largest kitchen knife from the rack of shining blades, and came at her. She had held perfectly still, knowing things would get worse if she tried to avoid punishment by running or, a sinful and completely deadly idea, fighting back. He had, instead of quickly stabbing her and then yanking the knife out, eased the knife through her skin and through muscle, coaxing it deeper and deeper._

Sakura shivered, wrapping her hands around herself momentarily before resuming her self-torture session. She had found that only bring back those disturbing memories was she able to come back from the creeping numbness that sometimes enveloped her. Next she traced the words, **slut **and **whore**, carved side by side on her left thigh.

_She walked in the front door, talking to Ino on phone even after they had spent the last twenty four hours together since Sakura had slept over. "Ino-pig, I really should get going. Yes, I will see you on Monday. Hey, I do not have a big forehe- oh. Alright, well just make sure you aren't up to late with him! Bye!" She closed the phone, pushing it into her pocket and walking towards the staircase to go upstairs and unpack her overnight bag._

_"What the fuck is that." She froze at the cold and furious voice that came from behind her. She turned to see her father, dressed in his usual dress pants and polo, glaring at her._

_"What do you mean daddy?" She hoped to god the daddy card worked, she wasn't sure how much more of his anger she could deal with._

_"The shit on your eyes. You look like a fucking tramp." She brought a hand up to touch her eyelid, coming back with a green powder on it. Damn, she had forgotten to remove the eye shadow from when Ino had insisted on giving her a make-over._

_"Ino wanted to make me pretty, daddy." She was desperately clinging to the hope that reminding him continuously he was her father and she was his innocent little girl would ease his fury._

_No such luck. "Come here bitch. Let me tell you something, come here." She slowly started walking towards him, forcing her legs to obey. As soon as she was in arms length he grabbed her forearms in a bruising grip. "Nothing, **nothing**, will ever make you pretty. Come on, I need to teach you that." He brought her into the kitchen, retrieving the all too familiar kitchen knife. She had, for a brief moment, wondered why he liked to torture her with knives and that one in particular so much, but her thoughts were cut short when he pulled up one side of her cotton pajama shorts and began carving into her leg._

Sakura let out a dry sob, feeling the scary numbness and indifference slip away to be replaced by fear and anxiety. As long as she felt something. She then grabbed her towel, wrapping it around herself, before climbing into her chair and wheeling herself over to the mirror. Once positioned in front of it, she stared at her reflection. Three minutes passed by before she spat, "Ugly," and then went into the room in search of comfortable pajamas to sleep the rest of day away.

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><p>Gaara sat across from his therapist, a strong and pushy woman named Anko. "Look, I think we've done enough soul searching for today, can I go?" He asked, desperate to get away from the woman. She was obsessed with using spiritual tactics to help his 'healing process'.<p>

She glanced up from her notes and sighed. "Alright, but meditate a little tonight and we'll talk about your results next week." Gaara jumped up, thankful to be away from the crazy, petite lady who was supposed to help him. What could she do for him when so was so busy lecturing him on spirit energy and such?

He, in three long strides, was out of the room and walking down the hallway. He headed towards Sakura's room, excited to see her. He had felt slightly uncomfortable with his quick attachment to her and told himself to slow down, but he just couldn't stop the rush of happiness whenever he saw her-or thought of her for that matter. She was filling in his mind faster than he could handle and he was almost glad for the day away from her to organize his jumbled thoughts.

He had figured out, after being in denial, that he really enjoyed spending time with the pink haired girl. He had a hard childhood, his father hating him, but his father chose the method of staying away and ignoring his son as punishment. Sakura instead had been exposed to her father's anger through verbal attacks and, he guessed by her behavior and strong dislike for her father, some physical attacks.

The idea that her father had layed a hand on her sent a shot of fury mixed with adrenaline through his veins. He had a new goal once he got out of the institute; pound her father's face in while wearing brass knuckles. Yeah, that'd be fun.

Gaara continued on his way to Sakura's room, his brows furrowing together when he heard scared whimpers. His pace quickened until he was at her room and he threw the door open to find Sakura thrashing in her bed, tears trickling down her cheeks. He quickly moved to her side, sitting on her bed and pulling her up into a sitting position. Her head lolled back, tears still falling from her eyes as she continued to jerk back and forth. "Sakura!"

He quickly wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to calm her down. She kept moving and he was concerned that she was going to hit herself against something, when she suddenly stilled and fell into him. She wasn't heavy, but she did surprise him so he fell backwards in a way that he was lying in the bed with her practically on top of him.

Then, she really surprised him. She turned her face into his chest and gripped handfuls of his shirt in her fists. How the hell was he supposed to explain this to her later?


End file.
